Anstead to take over as Florida's chief justice July 1

TALLAHASSEE -- Serving as Florida's chief justice -- overseeing the third branch of government in the country's fourth largest state -- would be a big job at any time.

"We have to manage and operate a huge justice system," said Justice Harry Lee Anstead, who will begin a two-year term as chief justice July 1.

His term begins at a crucial time for Florida's trial courts and 900 trial judges.

The issue is money -- and lots of it, ranging from $300 million upward to $1 billion.

Four years ago, voters said state government should pick up a bigger share of the cost of the state court system, which is now divided among state government, the counties and users.

Nothing's been done yet -- but the deadline for implementing the constitutional amendment is July 2004.

"Clearly the most dominant issue I face is to be sure to preserve our trial courts in the form they're in right now," Anstead said in a recent interview, adding it would be "a tragedy of huge proportions and dimensions" if programs are cut.

He cites judicial education, mediation programs, drug courts and other initiatives as examples of ways Florida's court system excels.

And while the federal courts may carry a special aura in the eyes of some, state courts see most of the action -- at least 95 percent, Anstead said.

"That's where justice is delivered to the people in this country," he said. "It's delivered in the state courts."

King said he likes Anstead but added there was "no question" the new chief is "extremely liberal."

And he warned that the state can't afford to afford to pick up an extra $1 billion in court costs -- or even half that.

Anstead was unanimously selected by the other six justices on the court in two months ago. By tradition, the high court taps the next most senior justice to take over the top administrative job. Anstead will replace Chief Justice Charles Wells, whose two-year term ends June 30.

Although Anstead will be in charge of procedural issues and budget matters for the state's judicial branch, his vote on cases will carry no more weight than the votes of the other six justices and he'll make the same salary -- $150,000.

The issue of court funding is not Anstead's only priority for his term as chief justice. Raised by a working mother of six in a Jacksonville housing project, Anstead wants to improve the way courts deal with abused and troubled children.

During the last decade, juvenile cases were too often dumped on the newest judges in some parts of the state, Anstead said. And that spilled over into the offices of state attorneys and public defenders, who assigned their newest attorneys to the juvenile division.

Although there's been some improvement, he said he wants to "serve as a catalyst" so every judicial circuit becomes "much more aggressive and innovative and active in reacting to these children who are brought in."

Anstead, 64, was named to the Supreme Court by the late Gov. Lawton Chiles in August 1994 after serving for 17 years as a judge on the 4th District Court of Appeal in West Palm Beach.

He earned his bachelor's and law degrees from the University of Florida and worked as an attorney for 13 years before being named a DCA judge.

Anstead, and the rest of the Florida Supreme Court, gained national exposure in the wake of the 2000 presidential election. Florida's high court held two nationally broadcast hearings and issued key rulings in the legal battle between Al Gore and George W. Bush.

Anstead said that exposure was a positive byproduct of the openness of courts in Florida, which was the first state to allow cameras in the courtroom.

In the presidential election challenge, an entire world was watching when court spokesman Craig Waters stepped outside the courthouse several times each day to announce court orders and opinions.

"I think we were the first court in the country that really has had this conversation with the public in such a direct way," Anstead said.

In mid-November, the court unanimously extended a deadline to give South Florida counties more time to hand count disputed ballots. In early December, a 4-3 ruling kept the recount going; Anstead was in the majority. A few days later, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned that decision and the election went to Bush.